She Will Be Loved
by randomgirl1200
Summary: And he has a moment of clarity, more clear than any moment he's ever shared with Peyton. He knows she's about to push him away and give him a thousand reasons why they can't happen, but if she needs to hear why he loves her, he can go on all night. s5 BL


**AN:** If any of you read The Great Escape, I promise to update soon.

This is a one-shot that I absolutely adore. It may be nothing special, but I really love it and I hope y'all will too. And if you do, or don't love it, please leave me a review and let me know why. :) Story title from Maroon 5's song. You've probably heard this song before, but if you haven't be _sure_ to check it out. It's amazing.

**She will be loved**

_It's not always rainbows and butterflies  
It's compromise that moves us along, yeah  
My heart is full and my door's always open  
You can come anytime you want_

Lucas turns the key with his fingers.

He's feeling bored and broody and alone tonight.

He thinks this is why he misses Lindsey. He doesn't want to be alone.

He's finally admitted to himself that maybe him and Lindsey are over. And that maybe he's okay with it. After all, according to his knowledgeable best friend Haley James Scott, his heart _does_ belong to someone else.

Haley's suddenly become Peyton's biggest fan. Of course to that Haley would just replay, "That's ridiculous, I _adored_ Lindsey!" But they both know that's a lie. Ever since Peyton came home, she had been rooting for them. _Everyone_ was rooting for them.

And if he's honest with himself, his heart didn't lie completely with Lindsey, and there's a part of him that is still holding on to what he had with Peyton, but he doesn't really know what to think about who he loves more.

Then there's Brooke. He doesn't know why she's suddenly thrown into the mix, since she obviously doesn't have more than friendly feelings towards him, but sometimes he wonders about her, and about them. If they could be anything other than platonic.

He hears a knock on the door, interrupting his train of thought. To his surprise, it's Brooke, looking tired and broken and disheveled and gorgeous at the same time with a crying baby in her arms.

"I have to finish these sketches for Macy's and she just _won't stop_." She looks at him with pleading hazel eyes and he knows he'd let her in even if he didn't want to. And he does want to let her in, so badly. He realizes she and Angie were just the kind of company he was yearning for the whole evening.

_I drove for miles and miles  
And wound up at your door  
I've had you so many times but somehow  
I want more_

Lucas plays around with Angie for a little bit, then turns to look at Brooke. She looks so cute all concentrated on her sketches, occasionally running her fingers through her hair. He remembers times when they would sneak into neighbor's hot tubs in high school and make out and marvels at how quickly they all grew up. Maybe a little _too _quickly.

Brooke suddenly looks up and Lucas looks down again, embarrassed that she caught him observing her, but she simply smiles and asks, "So, is this how you thought our lives would turn out?"

"What, me being stood up at the altar and you taking care of a kid that isn't yours?" he thinks about it and says, "Not really." Actually, how he pictured it was _them_ at the altar, saying "I do" to each other, and _them_ taking care of a kid that was _theirs_ together, but that was a long time ago.

"Do you ever want to go back? I mean, I remember being sixteen and everything just seemed so _much_ easier. Would you do it differently?" she asks, and flashes back to when she was sixteen. She and Lucas were together for the first time, and it was also the time he cheated on her with Peyton. She realizes there are so many underlying tones in her words.

She knows he understands when he replies, "I'd try to appreciate the things I took for granted back then." He'd try to appreciate _her_ more.

"But I think we _have_ to get through all this stuff, you know?" he adds. "To get to the places we want to be."

"Then again, I don't really know which place I want to be," he chuckles, thinking of Peyton and Lindsey.

"Neither do I," Brooke says sadly. Angie has filled the gap in her empty life but soon she'll leave, and Brooke will be alone. _Again_.

"Well, maybe we can figure it out together," Luke offers.

Brooke nods, suddenly not feeling so lonely anymore.

_Tap on my window knock on my door  
I want to make you feel beautiful  
I know I tend to get so insecure  
It doesn't matter anymore_

Brooke yawns. She's tired. She enjoys being with Lucas but she knows he needs to sleep soon, so she says, "I'd better go now, at least with any of us want to get some sleep tonight."

Lucas freezes. He doesn't really want her to go. He doesn't want to be alone and he _likes_ being with her and Angie.

"Stay," he says, leaving both she and him stunned. "Finish your sketches."

"Really?" she asks.

He nods, "This is kind of nice."

She agrees and smiles. It _is_ kind of nice.

And as she falls into his arms that night as the three of them fall asleep, she realizes this is _exactly_ how she thought their lives would turn out.

_I know where you hide  
Alone in your car  
Know all of the things that make you who you are_

Haley's been giving him hell about telling Peyton he hates her. He doesn't _hate_ her, he admits, but he _does_ deeply resent her.

He decides to go over to Brooke's. He knows she's been feeling like shit since Angie left.

When he sees Brooke sitting by herself on her couch, he literally does a double-take. She looks so beautiful and delicate and desolate, all by herself over there.

When she notices him, she says, "They're supposed to call me as soon as Angie's home safe."

"Where's Peyton?" he asks.

Brooke rolls her eyes, so _this_ is why he came over. " I don't know, at work probably."

"You didn't tell her Angie was leaving?" She shakes her head. "And you told me not to come to the airport. Why?" he asks, concerned.

She wants to scream at him and tell him to fuck off, but at the same time she wants to fall into his arms like she did the other night and feel protected.

But instead, she decides to tell him how she feels. "I don't like you guys to see me like this. Vulnerable."

"That's how I always see you Brooke." He smiles, "In fact, I think it's kind of beautiful."

He continues, "You save people, Brooke Davis. It's what you do." He thinks about all she's done for him and he wants to show her how much she means to him, how much she's affected his entire life by storming into his life in junior year. But he can't. It wouldn't be appropriate. After all, they are _just_ friends.

He stands up and is about to leave, but Brooke wants him to stay, and she wonders how to tell him that. Finally, she hands him her purple monkey.

He hesitates, wondering if he should take it, but when he sees her smile, he knows she wants him to have it.

"We've been through a lot, you and me," she says, thinking about all they've been through. "But I wouldn't have made it through today or a couple of other days without you, so thanks."

She pauses for awhile, wondering if she should say what she's about to say, but she blurts it out anyway, "I love you, Lucas Scott, you know that?" She doesn't know in what way, platonic or romantic or whatever? But she _does_ know she loves him. She's known it since she was sixteen.

Lucas looks up, shocked, and he is instantly transported back to a time when they are standing at his doorstep, her giving him eighty-two letters and saying the exact same phrase to him. And he says it back and they kiss. They didn't get the happy ending they deserved, but they _were_ on cloud nine for awhile.

And he has a moment of clarity, more clear than any moment he's _ever_ shared with Peyton. It's Brooke. She's the one. Apparently the senior-year Lucas Scott who was talking to Peyton on the River Court got it right after all. It's Brooke he wans standing next to him when all his dreams came true. And she _loves_ him. And he's _sure_ he loves her too. So he says it out loud.

But as he leans in for the kiss, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a hug.

And he realizes she means it in a strictly platonic way. He can't help feeling an overwhelming wave of disappointment.

So, he pulls away quickly and says, "No, but I'm _in_ love with you."

She looks more stunned than he's ever seen her, but she also looks immensely beautiful and he thinks it's the best way he's ever seen her.

He knows she's about to push him away and give him a thousand reasons why they can't happen, but he doesn't care. He just smiles.

Because if she needs to hear why he loves her, he can go on all night.

_And she will be loved  
And she will be loved  
And she will be loved  
And she will be loved_


End file.
